Over the past few months, I’ve been working on a project to identify the choreographers and masterminds behind all of the classical-oriented film dances I’ve featured on my blog to date. It had dawned on me that I’ve never given enough credit, or even thought, to the choreographers behind all of these wonderful dances.
The result of my research has been absolutely fascinating. A relatively small group of people was responsible for most of the classical film dances I’ve featured on this blog, which as a whole forms a collection that I think represents most of the best classically-oriented dances in Indian films (though there are still some I haven’t yet covered, especially of Kathak). Not only was a small group responsible, but also that group was comprised largely of surprisingly eminent and respected traditional practitioners of classical dances: traditional Bharatanatyam nattuvannars from hereditary families (and some the products of the institution Kalakshetra) for Tamil and Telugu films, Kuchipudi gurus/nattuvannars for Telugu films, renowned Kathak dancers and gurus for Hindi films, and Kerala Kalamandalam trained artists for Malayalam films. Essentially many of the kind of people that you wouldn’t expect to associate with the glamorous cinema world. Expanding beyond this small group, one also finds classic and modern film choreographers who created some beautiful work and, of course, classical dancers themselves who designed their own dances to stunning effect.
Therefore, this post serves as the series kick-off or introduction! In the series, I plan to not only show examples of the many film dances but also examine the surprising involvement of the traditional community and pull together some engaging research I’ve found. Here’s a rough outline of what I envision the series will look like, with some teasers:
The Goal: Bringing Awareness to Regional Film Dances
 |
| Umrao Jaan and Chori Chori |
Therefore, this post serves as the series kick-off or introduction! In the series, I plan to not only show examples of the many film dances but also examine the surprising involvement of the traditional community and pull together some engaging research I’ve found. Here’s a rough outline of what I envision the series will look like, with some teasers:
- Bharatanatyam Nattuvannars – Even the great stalwart Meenakshisundaram Pillai had a stint in films! And guess who Sayee-Subbulakshmi’s guru was...
- Kuchipudi Gurus/Nattuvannars – All the golden 70s-90s Kuchipudi film dance hits can be attributed to just two people...
- Kathak Gurus – Some of the film-style Kathak dances closest to authentic Kathak were created by, you guessed it, big-name, authentic Kathak gurus...
- Kathakali/Kerala Dance Gurus – It’s all about the Kerala Kalamandalam...
- Dancers – Roshan Kumari, Shobana, Sridhar…
- Choreographers – Some of Hindi cinema’s most well known, artistic dances can be attributed to another small group of people! Heeralal earns my eternal devotion...
The Goal: Bringing Awareness to Regional Film Dances
